How to decrease your encounter with cyber bullies/trolls: Live Journal
I never really made a post giving advice on how to decrease your encounter with cyber bullies/trolls. I gave some pointers in comments in numerous posts. However, considering all that's been going on lately in the news with Amanda Todd, I figured I make a series of posts about how to limit your chances with cyber bullies/trolls. Now, I only have experience on Live Journal and Facebook. I don't have an account on places like Twitter or Tumblr. However, if you do and you've been successful at limiting trolls or cyber bullies on your account at those places by what you have set or done, I invite you to make a post related to that so I can save the post to the memories. Today, I'm doing Live Journal since we're all on here.
1. This goes for any site you're on, but very careful what you put down. Particularly, very personal info like contact information. Personally, I wouldn't put down what my phone number is or what my address is. If you do decide to put down this information, either make sure only you can see it or only your friends list can see it. You don't know who may be looking at your profile if you have everything public, and that could lead to trouble. Any trolls can start becoming a pain in the ass offline if they have your number and know where you live. Even if you're weary about your contact info, be attentive of what you put in your bio. Anyone can see it since there's no setting on Live Journal about who can and who cannot see your bio.
2. Be weary who you add to your friends list, whether you get a friend request or send one out. Now, everyone comes to LJ for different reasons. Some people come here to meet new people online. Others come here to just talk on their journals. Then, there's some who do both. I only add people to my friend's list that I have interacted with on some level or that I've seen post before. Sometimes, I may meet them from a mutual friend. I don't add people that I never had a conversation with. While that may make me sound paranoid and mean, it saves me from adding someone to my list that I barely know who may cause my problems. However, the important thing to note...whether you're weary about who you add or you're willing to add anyone...if you feel something is off about someone (like your instincts are screaming to you not to add that person)...listen to your instincts. They may be right about that person.
3. Be careful on who you let read your journal. Some of us don't care who sees our journal while others do. I'm in the second catagory. My journal is set to friends-only. If you do decide to keep your journal public, make sure what you post isn't something that's incriminating or someone can used to cause problems with you. Then again, if you don't want anyone to read your journal, you can set it to private only.
4. Messaging: If you have had trouble with people messaging you horrible things, set it to registered users only or friends only. Your cyber bully/troll problem will definitely decrease if you set your messages to friends only.
5. Comments: If you're worried about trolls, set your comments to friends only or registered users since people posting anonymously can sometimes feel they can say whatever they want because they're hiding behind an anon identity. This will limit people from going on your journal and trying to create drama with you, especially if they read something that they didn't agree with. Of course, if you set your comments to friends only, they definitely won't be able to start anything with you.
6. Most important of all, if anyone ever comes across as threatening to you, please report it to lj_abuse. You can also record IP addresses, so if the online bullying becomes heightened, you can give it to the police so they can track down the location of where the person lives. Also, if any bullying is going online still, please keep it as evidence so you can show the police or LJ's staff so they can deal with the user causing you problems.
*Disclaimer: I know what I suggest may not work for everyone, or you still have problems even if you have done with what I have done. However, for those that don't know you can set certain features to certain settings, it may help you...especially if you're dealing with trolls and cyber bullies right now.
1. This goes for any site you're on, but very careful what you put down. Particularly, very personal info like contact information. Personally, I wouldn't put down what my phone number is or what my address is. If you do decide to put down this information, either make sure only you can see it or only your friends list can see it. You don't know who may be looking at your profile if you have everything public, and that could lead to trouble. Any trolls can start becoming a pain in the ass offline if they have your number and know where you live. Even if you're weary about your contact info, be attentive of what you put in your bio. Anyone can see it since there's no setting on Live Journal about who can and who cannot see your bio.
2. Be weary who you add to your friends list, whether you get a friend request or send one out. Now, everyone comes to LJ for different reasons. Some people come here to meet new people online. Others come here to just talk on their journals. Then, there's some who do both. I only add people to my friend's list that I have interacted with on some level or that I've seen post before. Sometimes, I may meet them from a mutual friend. I don't add people that I never had a conversation with. While that may make me sound paranoid and mean, it saves me from adding someone to my list that I barely know who may cause my problems. However, the important thing to note...whether you're weary about who you add or you're willing to add anyone...if you feel something is off about someone (like your instincts are screaming to you not to add that person)...listen to your instincts. They may be right about that person.
3. Be careful on who you let read your journal. Some of us don't care who sees our journal while others do. I'm in the second catagory. My journal is set to friends-only. If you do decide to keep your journal public, make sure what you post isn't something that's incriminating or someone can used to cause problems with you. Then again, if you don't want anyone to read your journal, you can set it to private only.
4. Messaging: If you have had trouble with people messaging you horrible things, set it to registered users only or friends only. Your cyber bully/troll problem will definitely decrease if you set your messages to friends only.
5. Comments: If you're worried about trolls, set your comments to friends only or registered users since people posting anonymously can sometimes feel they can say whatever they want because they're hiding behind an anon identity. This will limit people from going on your journal and trying to create drama with you, especially if they read something that they didn't agree with. Of course, if you set your comments to friends only, they definitely won't be able to start anything with you.
6. Most important of all, if anyone ever comes across as threatening to you, please report it to lj_abuse. You can also record IP addresses, so if the online bullying becomes heightened, you can give it to the police so they can track down the location of where the person lives. Also, if any bullying is going online still, please keep it as evidence so you can show the police or LJ's staff so they can deal with the user causing you problems.
*Disclaimer: I know what I suggest may not work for everyone, or you still have problems even if you have done with what I have done. However, for those that don't know you can set certain features to certain settings, it may help you...especially if you're dealing with trolls and cyber bullies right now.